IMPORTANT: Database corruption, last 28 hours lost

It hasn't been a super fun day for me. When I woke up this morning, I had a list of useful things I was hoping to get done by now. Then, about eight hours ago, I discovered a corruption in the database that keeps track of everything on Pixel Scrapper. I took the site offline immediately, and have been working since then to try and get things restored. The good news is that we take daily snapshots of the database, and using a snapshot from yesterday I have been able to successfully restore the site and eliminate the corruption; the bad news is that the snapshot is from yesterday. This means that almost everything added to the site in the last 28 hours is now gone: forum posts, replies, layouts, even entire user profiles. I was able to recover forum topics that had been posted, but not replies to those topics (except in one case). People have also lost some free daily download credits in some cases, as well as records of items downloaded in the last 28 hours.

If you created an account in the last 28 hours, you will need to re-create your account. Any layouts that you uploaded will need to be re-uploaded, etc.

We have multiple layers of protection in place to keep this sort of thing from happening, but unfortunately the protection wasn't quite strong enough. I've learned a few new things, and added some additional protection, so that the glitch that caused the corruption in this case should not trouble us again in the future.

All of that being said, I'm extremely sorry for losing your data. It takes time and energy to post thoughtful replies in the forums, to upload layouts, and to fill out your profile, and I hate to be responsible for wasting that time. If there's one thing I really dislike, it's having to go back and do something over again that I've already spent time doing once.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding, and hopefully I can prevent this kind of thing happening in the future.

oh bummer!! I was wondering what happened when I didn't see something I'd posted yesterday! SOOO glad you were able to fix it as much as you were - it's like magic to me, very impressive Thanks Jordan!!

Thank you for the update. Thought my system was having problems - most downloads worked but a few just seemed to be in search mode forever. Keep up the great work. I really enjoy your site and love the tutorials found in the forum.

I'm sorry Jordan - I know it must feel really stressful. On the other hand, in the cosmic scheme, it only scrapbooking stuff and we will all live until things are back in order. This kind of stuff happens.

Sounds like a very stressful day/night for you. Haven't checked my uploads, etc. but like Tina said, not a major problem for us. Judging from the general condition of the website, you do an excellent job as webmaster and I thank you for providing such a fun place for the rest of us.

Oh dear - how awful for you! What a pain in the neck! I saw the site was unavailable for a loooong time and worried that something may have gone wrong. How clever of you to have up-to-date back-ups and to be able to fix almost everything back like it was. It is much appreciated! I shall repost my comments (if I can remember them LOL - the grey matter is decreasing daily I think). I also very much appreciate the efforts both of you go to, keeping everyone so well informed of what's happening and any changes made etc - most reassuring. 3 cheers and a pat on the back!

Sorry for the headache, but we totally understand! For all the traffic and great stuff on the site, we can certainly all be patient and reload, or compose items again, especially after ALL you've had to do to get us back up and running again! I wondered why I was getting the message that the site was down, since it's the first time since I joined last year. What an amazing track record! Be proud of it, and I'm just thankful that it didn't take you more than just over a day.

Remember too, that unfortunately, it's through mistakes and mishaps that we learn the best...and retain best, or find the best way to do things for the future.

I'm so sorry to hear of all the problems you've had with the site today. I was wondering what had happened to my Pond Life preview post. I know you've had a hard and stressful day. I hope the problems are behind you now so you can relax. Thank you for being a great webmaster!!

Hey guys!
It's ok - it is only data after all. Nothing so important it cannot be fixed or lived without!
Consider what you are doing for all of us the other 364 days of the year... it's a great site and a great community.
Deep breath... Zen mode... Let it go...

That makes me sad for both of us,you lost data and i lost credits.I love my credits ;( Hehehehehehehe,thank you for letting us know and for fixing the problem.Things happen that we have no control over.

I am sorry to hear about the challenges you had to face today. Nothing worse than having to tackle unexpected problems when you have other things you need to accomplish. Thanks for your detailed explanations of the problem and solution. I appreciate all you do for us!

Well, it just goes to show we live in a digi-world! And if there is one thing we cannot control absolutely 100% is that it cannot become corrupted EVER! You do your best to have safeguards but I think we all know it can happen! I am just sorry for all the extra work you had to put it to get it restored! Great job Jordan and a big thank you for all you and Marisa do!

Haha, I finally had time to participate in the weekly challenge and now the bug ate my application Thanks for catching it so fact Jordan and I hope the rest of the week will be happy-happy-joy-joy for you to compensate this rotten day. You are a hero in my book, keeping this site running as smoothly as it does must be a pain...